Any recommendations for a cat tracker?

Mysterae_

Mysterae_

Mysterae_

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Not for the often stolen catalytic variety but for the feline wanderer type :). Our recently adopted 3ish year old cat is desperate to go out and hunt which it can do once it's acclimatised to us, but I think it would be wise to keep tabs on it once it's released. We live in the middle of nowhere and are concerned it might get lost and forget it's way home.

I've narrowed the type of cat trackers available, would anybody recommend a particular type?

- GPS type, subscription required, at the mercy of mobile signal which around here can be quite poor
- Tabcat V2, no subscription, no data but requires the use a finder remote, no history of whereabouts
- Apple Airtag, relies on Apple devices being in the vicinity, not sure on the range

Thanks!
 
If you get a tracker that allows you set the recipient server to what you like you are then able to use either your own server (a bit tricky to set up if like myself you aren't 100% computer savvy, but perfectly doable, check out Traccar), or a free server which can be totally reliable and feature rich nonetheless.

You also need to check how often the firmware allows the device to update position. Those that provide a cheap or free server locked to the device often throttle update periods for obvious bandwidth usage reasons.

Firmware in trackers can be set to only use pay as you go servers, time out on free server time, update pitifully slowly, blah blah. Bit of a minefield... See if Teltonika do an animal tracker, or Concox, and be sure it's not a clone you're getting!

Also be aware the GPS satellite antenna in a GPS tracker needs to point at the sky, which is tricky to achieve on a collar that can rotate around the animal's neck.

Finally be aware that UK telecom companies will begin switching off 2G in the not too distant future so 2G limited devices will become obsolete then.

I fit these things (not to animals) so have learnt many of the pitfalls the hard way...
 
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I looked into this a few years ago - at the time all of these devices were quite large. Not sure of the latest models, but I don’t think a cat would think much of an apple AirTag around its neck.

What I can say is that our cats are much more chilled out (less stressed) when they have the free option to go outside. You, the owner, are also much more chilled out when you don’t know where the cat is.

Our cat flap used to keep track of where the cats were (in or out of the house) using their microchip to detect them. At the mere hint of the cat not being where it usually would be, it was straight to ‘hmm I hope the cat is ok!’ - it’s much better peace of mind to just let the cat be a cat. So we’ve stopped tracking them.

Obviously it’s a little different with an adopted cat if you’ve only just brought him home - you’ll have to make a call but I’d generally suggest accepting that cats are a bit mysterious and will do as they please.

I hope that sort of helps, somehow :p
 
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Tractive or Tractive Mini. Buy from Amazon for cheapest price @£30 after coupon today.


Subscription is then direct with Tractive. It's not cheap but works well.

Tried several for our cat and there is simply no way around getting a tractive subscription one if you want accurate tracking. The mini is sensibly sized although ours wore the larger version.
 
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We looked at this when one of ours went missing, and another was hit by a car. It was between the Tabcat and Tractive, unfortunately both have their disadvantages and ultimately we came to the conclusion that neither of them would really be worth it (both together maybe, but even that isn't ideal).

With the GPS one; 4 (well... 3 now :() cats would be costing us £40/month in subscription fees, which - while it wouldn't break the bank - isn't exactly an insignificant amount.

There's also the fact the battery only supposedly lasts 3-4 days - obviously depends on the cat's usual habits, but if it's normal for them to disappear for a day or 2 then it's quite plausible that the battery is already dead by the time you realise they are actually "missing".

Then on top of that you have the big lump stuck on a collar round their neck which they may not be too happy with!

With the RF one (Tabcat), there's no subscription, smaller & lighter, and better battery (7-10 days), the obvious downside being the much limited range and lack of any kind of location history.
 
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

Having considered the options we have come to the decision that the tracker will only be a temporary thing, just to put our minds at ease while the cat settles in to it's new surroundings. As interesting as it may be, we don't really need to know where the cat goes after it's settled because cats will be cats after all (although I do think it's cool!). So the Tractive GPS with one months subscription will suffice, comes out at about £30 for the device and £12 for the one month subscription. If it does prove useful then I can always subscribe for 12 months at £72.
 
Maybe this?


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I use AirTags on my two and I’ve had no issues with them on my cats. Put them on both of my cats since the AirTags first launched and only had to change the battery once on both in all that time. They love going outdoors in all weathers and the tags have survived great. It’s never bothered them at all wearing them either even when they were attached like a key ring and dangled.

Bought a collar about a year ago with a built in AirTag holder so it sits flat these days so it doesn’t get in their way. Front of the tag is exposed as I have their name engraved, build quality on these things are great. The range is not too bad but you are limited to Bluetooth range but if you’re in a large open area the range should be pretty decent.

There is so many Apple devices about these days one of them is going to have a good chance at detecting the tag if you don’t. My cats are still chipped with the usual small metal tag that has a phone number but the AirTag is a nice peace of mind if they get stuck somewhere.
 
A neighbour of my Daughters insists their cat has been tracked to an address and they refuse to hand it back but the police say a cat cant be owned
do you think this is a bit of a tale ? (no pun intended)
 
Can't even get ours to keep a normal collar on never mind a tracker, which is a shame because I'm intrigued about where he ends up.
 
I've seen a few collars attached to our bushes they can be quite hazardous ,next doors cat chills with me so i get all the cat benefits and they get the vet bills and worry
 
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moon man said:
I've seen a few collars attached to our bushes they can be quite hazardous ,next doors cat chills with me so i get all the cat benefits and they get the vet bills and worry
Click to expand...

The longest I've seen a collar stay on any of our cats is about 3 weeks. Coach can get hers off within 15 seconds.

The only way to get them to stay on longer is to use one without a safety catch but I'd rather lose the collar than run the risk of the cat getting hurt when its collar gets caught on something.
 
moon man said:
I've seen a few collars attached to our bushes they can be quite hazardous ,next doors cat chills with me so i get all the cat benefits and they get the vet bills and worry
Click to expand...

Yes, it's important to use a quick-release collar, so if it does get caught on something the cat doesn't get strangled. Which of course is another issue with these trackers - they don't tell you where the cat is, they tell you where the collar is, and those aren't necessarily the same!
 
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